This will really only be meaningful to people who watch the PBS Masterpiece Mystery series, Endeavour -- though I think the tidbits will still be of fun interest to anyone. If you normally watch the show, but recorded it last night and haven’t seen the episode yet, you now will have these items to look forward to. If you’ve seen it…well, it’s still a treat to know. And as I said, even if you don't watch the show, I think anyone would be able to appreciate them. Last night, the series returned for its seventh season. And in the premiere episode there were a couple of "Easter Eggs" (little items that get hidden in a work that most people will never get, but if you do, they're fun winks to you. The name comes from hidden treats that code programmers would put into video games.) To be clear, there is nothing here that has anything to do with the plot. Zero. So, nothing will be given away. One item is only about a sort of "stunt casting" people would normally never get, and the other is just a hidden nod. I came upon them both totally by chance, when I was searching for an answer to a question I had about a plot point after watching last night's episode. Again, nothing here has anything to do with the plot. As for the first "Easter Egg" of sorts, the episode takes place in 1970, and there is a scene that takes place at a meeting of a Women’s Rights group. The main character of Morse is going there with the reporter played by Abigail Thaw. (For those who don't know the show, Endeavour is based on the beloved series Inspector Morse, but from the perspective of him starting out in the Oxford police force as a young man. The wonderful actor John Thaw played him in the original series, and he as sadly since passed away. Abigail Thaw is his daughter, and the new series endearingly cast her in this small, but continuing role.) In the scene at the meeting of the Women's Rights group, Abigail Thaw briefly speaks with the young woman who has organized the event, a character named Sally Alexander. It turns out that Sally Alexander was a real person, who actually organized such events in Oxford at the time. And as it happens…she is Abigail Thaw’s mother!! (And of course, was John Thaw’s wife.) But – all the better – that's not all. The person who plays Sally Alexander in the episode is named Molly-Mae Whitmey. And who is that? Well, Molly-Mae Whitmey is…Abigail Thaw’s real-life daughter!! Playing her grandmother. Which means that in the scene Abigail Thaw is, in essence, talking to her mother. (Molly-Mae Whitmey is not an aspiring actress, but Abigail Thaw thought it would be fun to have her in the part.) Also fun, is the other "Easter Egg," indeed really more of an hidden Easter Egg is the true spirit of them. Again, nothing to do with the plot, and nothing that most humans would ever catch, but mega-fans look for. The original Inspector Morse series was based on novel written by Colin Dexter. And one of the little things that the show and its follow-up series about young Morse did was put Dexter into every episode somewhere. It turns out that although he passed away in 2017, the new Endeavour series has continued find a way to put Colin Dexter in every episode. And it seems there are mega-fans who try to find the “appearance.” And boy, do you ever have to be a mega-fan to find last night's. In the premiere episode for season seven, it comes in a scene in the house of Morse's older, more-experience partner. The television set is on and showing football scores. And if one looks at the row of results, the first letter of each winning team spells – All that aside, it was a very good opening episode, as well...
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. Feedspot Badge of Honor
Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|
© Copyright Robert J. Elisberg 2024
|